Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

Author's note: I know. I know. It's been far too long. So I'm finally trying to get back into my writing, especially as I have a little more time from my part-time job. Anyway, this story will be concluded after the season 3 story arc. One thing I will say is that I'm glad this is one story that has not turned into a story where there's more anger than possible. It seems odd but here's why: after watching the entire series more than once, including Angel, I really did not like how neither Buffy nor Angel as heroes of their shows were really handled. For Buffy, she was portrayed as being this super woman put on a pedestal with standards that even she could not meet, while also dismissing that she only survived so long thanks to her friends, while also making decisions that made situations potentially worse. Angel, on the other hand, shows how far guilt can make someone fall far, which is made worse when you consider that Angel (the human soul forcefully anchored to his demonically possessed corpse) was never responsible for what the demon, Angelus, did (the show actually showed that they were two separate entities). And it's made worse by the fact that Angel had a tendency of projecting his problems onto Faith when their situations actually turned out to be overtly different. My stories are to show that fate as far as the source material shows are more self-fulfilled prophecies that take other characters forcing the heroes into reluctantly accepting certain roles, effectively taking away their free will, as well as the fact that the characters, who have potential, always wind up either polarized or just turn out to be wasted potential. For more questions on my thoughts, you can ask me, if you're respectful about it. Anyway, enjoy this next installment.

Xander stared on in shock as he witnessed the image of what appeared to be Buffy's (now former) boyfriend walking around as if it were no big deal. He had sensed that something was different about his former rival for Buffy's affect but didn't know what it was. However, he was determined to make sure that there were risks. Xander came out from hiding and summoned his sword ready for anything. Faith, however, simply looked on in astonishment wondering what he could be thinking.

Angel walked away from the mausoleum when he heard a familiar voice, "Didn't think I'd see you back here, seeing as how you were dust months ago."

"I know. In a way, I'm glad you did. I don't have to be a danger to anyone anymore, especially Buffy," Angel replied.

Xander looked at him oddly before he asked, "And that means what?"

"I'm not a vampire anymore. Or can't you tell?" the older man asked. Xander gave him a look before he replied, "No. If you expect me to trust you, then you'll follow me to Giles and the others. Shouldn't be a problem."

Library

Sunnydale High

Most of the group had gathered in the room for training or researching when the doors had burst open. The watchers had looked up, with Giles' eyes growing wide at the site of the...person he believed to be dead.

"Xander. Faith. Can one of you tell me what is going on?" the Englishman asked.

Xander looked behind him for a second before he simply replied, "He's back."

"So we can see. The question is why," he said. He immediately noticed that Buffy had gone up to the man she had loved, mesmerized by seeing him for the first time in months.

"Angel?" Buffy asked, almost as if she was afraid that he would disappear when she said his name.

The older man smiled at her before he replied, "Yeah. It's me. Also, my real name is Liam."

"I take it this is the one known as Angelus?" Diana spoke up.

"No," Angel, or Liam as he preferred, said firmly. He looked Diana in the eye before he calmly asserted, "Angelus was the demon that took over my corpse after Darla found me. He's long gone."

Buffy was curious and placed a hand on his face. "Strange. His skin isn't cold but..." she laid her head on his chest and listened, only to find herself surprised.

"His heart isn't beating! His body is warm but he doesn't have a heart beat! Angel what is going?" Buffy asked in astonishment.

"It might be better if I show you," he said before he stepped back.

The next thing everyone knew, Liam was surrounded by a glowing bluish/white light, which everyone had to shield their eyes from the intensity. The light faded moments later and everyone looked on in shock.

"What the hell was that?" Xander was the first to speak up.

"More like Heaven actually," came a female voice. Everyone turned to see Ariel and Gadreel smiling at them.

Jonathan stepped forward and looked at the two as he asked, "What did you do to Angel?"

"He's a whitelighter."

"He's a...a what now?" Giles spoke up.

"A whitelighter," Amy said as she stood up. "He's become something that many people may have read about but never really gave much thought to."

"What exactly does that mean?" Diana said.

"In the resurrection, men will become like angels," Gadreel explained. "For the record, this doesn't mean that Liam has actually become an angel. It only means that his soul was brought to Heaven. He's no longer bound by flesh and blood like the living. Granted, he can still manifest like this on earth but he can't be killed. At most incapacitated."

"How have we not heard of something like this by now?" Buffy asked as she still stood next to Angel.

"Whitelighters are normally assigned to watch over those that God has chosen to become future guardians. This can include what many call witches, including the Halliwells."

"You're saying the Elders didn't think much of their charges getting involved with us?" Faith jumped in as she began connecting the dots.

"Not exactly. The original idea for most of those fighting the darkness was that none of you wouldn't necessarily meet unless you had to. With the Powers and Elders thinking that keeping the fights separate was a better idea, they thought there would've been no need for anyone to unite. They gave the ideas that this was to either keep balance or not to upset the Grand Design. But it was mostly innaccurate."

"Why lie? These guys are powerful," Xander said.

Ariel looked a bit saddened at what she would say next. "For now. For those who join the faithful in Heaven, you become our equals. Some are afraid that you would potentially overthrow them and they would be of no use anymore. It's what caused the Devil to fall. He believed that he and the rest of us were being disregarded when man was created. He thought that creation was being given to us, even though God never gave us word on that idea."

"It always comes down to fear it seems," Diana said.

"Indeed. But for the moment, their the least of our problems. Besides, with the Powers being rearranged due to Sariel and Kushiel's manipulations, we can safely say that things are working out better than initially hoped," she said with a smile.

"Then perhaps now we can get down to the more immediate problem we face: Mayor Wilkins," Giles said a bit glumly.

Xander looked around at his friends before he stated, "Does anyone else feel a conspiracy vibe here with the government?"

Everyone looked at him oddly before they simply laughed at his statement. Jenny spoke up once it died down, "So does this mean research for everyone?"

"It would seem so," Diana spoke up. The teenagers of the group groaned while the adults tried to hold in their laughter.

One month later...

Restfield Cemetery

Xander, Faith, and Jesse patrolled the field of grave markers. For any other teenager, being in a cemetery at night would be daring. But in Sunnydale, being involved with the supernatural meant that patrolling graveyards was child's play. The three teens stood against a rather tall marker waiting for any kind of action to show up. However, Faith was still a bit anxious as she was not empowered like the others. Even with the training, she had an odd feeling that she could die. Growing up on the rough neighborhoods of Boston were small game in comparison to this.

The three were brought out of their musings by the sound of fighting. They quickly ran over to area where the sounds were coming from. As they approached, they saw Gabriel and a woman they didn't recognize fighting winged vampires.

The three noticed that unlike the previous vampire they fought, that these creatures did not have a vampire face and that their wings were feathered. What was more interesting were their abilities as they seemed to carry long swords with violet energy surrounding them and they launched energy bolts.

The three teenagers decided to join the fray as Xander summoned his light magic sword and Jesse summoned his shadow gauntlets. Faith had pulled the sword that she had loaned from her watcher. Gabriel and the mysterious woman had managed to take care of half of the vampires but were beset by others. Jesse immediately deflected swings from the vampires' blades. The young man jumped back and and thruster his palm out and launched a stream of shadow energy which has disintegrated the vampire.

Xander for his part decided to pull a move from an anime and channeled light magic energy into his sword. He immediately swung the blade down to the ground, which was followed by a large wave of energy that cascaded over the vampires he fought and wiped them out.

Faith unfortunately was having trouble as she was able to keep up with the sword swings of one vampire. However, the years of experience that it possessed had left her at a disadvantage as they seemed to be wearing her down quickly. However, she was saved when the mysterious woman stabbed the vampire in the head with what appeared to be a sharpened blade shaped like a cross on a spear.

Faith looked on in surprise at the older woman's prowess and grace with the weapon. And she saw how Gabriel seemed to fight alongside her with a more predatory grace with his Void sword. She could feel the raw power both warriors contained as though it radiated off of them. The two warriors and the boys defeated the vampires and Jesse helped Faith to her feet. The young man could see the helplessness in her eyes and the yearning to be more than what she was.

"Faith Lehane. I understand that you are seeking to help fight the forces of darkness," said the older woman. She had long dark hair, wore red and black armor over her chest, shoulders and waist with cleavage exposed, and had a red hood from the armor over her head. She had intense pale blue eyes but they held a gentleness and kindness that Faith had not seen in many people. Faith looked at the woman and said, "Yeah. Who wants to know."

The woman bowed and said, "Carmilla. Carmilla Arcos. I was one of the three founding members of the Brotherhood of Light that Gabriel once served under."

"You're part of the reason that there's more vampires. Why is that?" Faith said with suspicion. Carmilla looked down with shame but looked back with resolution. "It wasn't a decision any of us made lightly. The lands we found in our homes were supposed to be connected to the heavens. But it seemed that the spell had another side effect. Our spirits were ascended but the bodies remained sentient. It was enough for the dark energies that encroached to infect our bodies."

"But that doesn't explain shadow magic," Xander threw in.

"Shadow magic in truth does not taint a person. But Light and Shadow have a way of bring out those qualities in everyone. You, Alexander, are a protector given your name. But that does not mean that you don't have your moments of aggression. Jesse is a natural born warrior who braves the front lines but will protect those dear to him. Shadow magic simply draws out more of the aggression if that's who they truly are. That said, I'm here for Faith."

Crawford Street Mansion

Faith walked inside the mansion as she wondered what one of the three founders of Gabriel's organization would want with her. The Boston girl walked in behind the centuries old woman into the living room room. Faith couldn't help but get a sense of familiarity about the mansion. But she squashed the sentiment as just one of those odd feelings. Carmilla stopped in the center of the room and looked at Faith and held out her hand.

"This is yours now," she said as she opened her hand and a pair of silver bracelets with teal gemstones in-laid in her palm. The bracelets floated from Carmilla's palm and towards the young dark-haired girl. "These bracelets will be your armor, your sword, and shield. Should you accept them, you will be drawn deeper into the fight against the forces of darkness."

Faith reached out to take the items when a brilliant white light flashed throughout the living room. When everything became clear, Carmilla could see that Faith was wearing the armor that came from the bracelets. The armor itself was colored silver and onyx, with the onyx covering everywhere except her head, and the silver rolling over parts of her arms, legs, chest, sides, and back.

"Wicked," Faith said as she looked over the armor. She felt a weight in her right hand and found what looked like two curved swords attached at the hilts. The blades of the swords were single-edged and looked similar to japanese swords but with more curve at the tip and the blade collar. The dark haired girl held the combined swords in her hands and with a simple motion, pulled the swords apart. The blades themselves came alive with a white fire.

"Double wicked," Faith said with a smile. Carmilla spoke up. "The armor you wear is reminiscent of the paladins that bore this armor in the time of the Brotherhood of Light. This allows you superhuman strength, the power of flight with wings made from your armor, and it allows you use any innate supernatural power."

Faith looked at the older woman as she answered, "We realized that you had potential to be a vessel for supernatural power. But with Kendra being the current slayer, it was decided that you would not need to inherit that power."

Faith looked her weapons and armor and gained some space from the vampire and older woman. She had been training in different weapon styles thanks to Giles and Diana. Faith moved the blades as though she were fighting the vampires infesting the town. She brought the blades together again treating them as though she were fighting with a staff. Gabriel and Carmilla were impressed that she adapted so quickly.

"You are now ready to take the fight to the next level."

Underworld

It was dark in the deepest level of Hell, the Shadow Plane, the Underworld, whatever name the mortals chose to call it. Flashes of red lightning appeared in what looked like dark skies. A tall figure with dark, slicked back hair walked towards what appeared to be a cage suspended in mid-air by chains.

"So you're still here trapped like a rat. Did you honestly think Gabriel Belmont would lose to you?" the figure said.

A pair of red eyes glowed in the darkness of the cage and a deep voice echoed. "If my power had not been stifled, he would've been finger paint by the time I was done with him."

"That arrogance is exactly why you were locked away in the first place. You can send your demons to tell whatever lies you can to mortals. But that's why angels like me are around to set the record straight."

The figure int he cage narrowed its eyes as it replied, "If you weren't my brother, I'd send my demon cannon fodder to try to take you out. Too bad for them you're considered one of the archangels of death."

"Come now brother. You and I bother know better. There's only one person in all of creation that you ever cared about, and it was yourself. Even when God made you more beautiful than the rest of us, you still wanted to elevate yourself above all of us. You screwed up Lucifer."

The eyes swiftly approached the edge of the cage as the Devil bellowed, "Damn you Samael! If I weren't locked in this blasted cage, I would tear that smug expression right off your face and make you watch while I snuff out the light of your life! I thought you of all people would understand why I rebelled."

"I know exactly why you rebelled! You thought that when Father made the earth, that you'd have complete control over the planet. We were never meant to rule. You became prideful and arrogant. And when he made the humans, it was the last straw. It's not the humans you truly hate. They're just your excuse. I'd say deal with it and get over it. But we don't work the way humans do. So my last words to you before I depart is that you will pay when the time comes."

Samael turned around and walked away from the cage. Many demons appeared and tried to attack, but Samael simply powered up, and the demons were gone with a brilliant flash of angelic light. Lucifer watched as his brother disappeared down a nearby corridor.

"When I get out of here, you'll be one of my first victims."

Author's note: this has been a long time coming. I want to apologize to those who have followed this story but there's been some changes over the last few years. But I was in the process of writing this and I wanted a chance to set up something that I don't think I'll be using for Hand of Fate despite these two series being in the same multiverse. The reason being that those two stories have a similar theme in mind, but with different focuses in their execution. I will say at some point, I will update the other stories within the Hand of Fate multiverse at some point. That said, you guys keep reading and I hope I continue to bring joy to those who read my fics. Take care.